Shyness and problematic social media use among Chinese adolescents: The mediating role of psychological insecurity and the moderating role of relational-interdependent self-constructs
Xiang Shi1,2,3, Ju Feng1,2,3, Ming Gong1,2,3, Yingxiu Chen1,2,3, Jianyong Chen1,2,3,*
Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 143-150, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065772
- 30 April 2025
Abstract While the relation between shyness and problematic social media use (PSMU) among adolescents has been established, the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association remain largely unexplored. The present study examined whether psychological insecurity mediated the association between shyness and adolescents’ PSMU and whether this mediation was moderated by relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC). A total of 1506 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 13.74 years, SD = 0.98) filled out self-report measures of shyness, psychological insecurity, RISC, and PSMU. SPSS (version 23.0) and the PROCESS macro (version 4.1) were employed to test the proposed model. Mediation analyses indicated that… More >